


Ami

by Nihonkikuasa211



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: Character Death, Childhood Memories, Friendship, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 09:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5534957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nihonkikuasa211/pseuds/Nihonkikuasa211
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mario visits Ted Bank's house after his death and remembers the patients warning to him as the young doctor thinks about his past. “A piece of advice from a future you. Don’t end up like me.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ami

_Ami_

_Why am I here again?_ Mario thought as he surveyed the gigantic house – scratch that, mansion – as he stood in the driveway. It was early in the morning, and Mario had just gotten off from his shift. It was a shift, the young resident thought, that he would stay in his mind for a while. An older man named Ted Banks had come to the emergency room, and had later died when his heart had stopped.

                _“A piece of advice from a future you. Don’t end up like me.”_

                Mario truly hadn’t known what Ted had meant by that when he had called the person who had last been in contact with the dead patient. The former friend – or lover perhaps? – had simply stated that he didn’t care and abruptly hung up. Mario had only stared at the phone for a couple of moments before remembering that he was supposed to take Ted to the morgue. His thoughts remained jumbled as the shift continued. Mario vaguely remembered telling Angus that Ted had died, and didn’t particularly remember his reaction. The young resident hadn’t truly thought what would happen if he had died without anyone to claim him – like Ted. _Everyone would probably be better off,_ Mario thought as he continued to stare at the mansion that Ted had lived in until just recently. _It wouldn’t be the first time that someone actually thought that, or…it almost happened._

Mario had grown up in a neighborhood where you could die anytime. From a bullet. From drugs. From alcohol. From simply being a kind person. Mario hadn’t truly known what it meant to actually love someone – drug addicted parents and an absent grandmother wasn’t actually the best standard to live up to. When his parents had finally died – drug overdose, the cops had said as they hurried the numb nine year old as if they would take away the shame of the dirty sheets, the absent food, the broken plates and shit everywhere – Mario had been taken care of by his grandmother. She had provided him with the bare necessities that his parents had been unable to provide, but Mario could say there was no love lost between them. He had been born from a troublemaking daughter who had gotten herself pregnant from a junkie – words that echoed in his head as he remembered hearing them from his grandmother as she talked to her “normal” friends. Mario had wanted to prove himself.

                There were some days when Mario thought he should have been something else, an engineer or a mechanic, so that he wouldn’t have to hide who he truly was. That he didn’t have to pretend that he grew up in a happy household and that he had a heart. Being a doctor was just one of the mistakes that the messed-up him had made. _I wanted to be something, to prove that I lived and didn’t die at nineteen or twenty-one like I thought I would. But now I have some other shit weighing on my mind._

Mario opened the door as he turned the key – one of Ted’s scarce belongings that had been with him – and walked inside. The house was clean. It reminded Mario of his grandmother, always telling him that he needed to clean up after himself until his room was spotless. The resident noted there were no pictures in the hallway. All the walls were bare. _I bet the walls are crying right now,_ Mario thought to himself as he rolled his eyes. There were no pictures where he lived either. Most people these days would be shocked that Mario had no pictures of himself as a child or as a teen. _We were too poor to take any pictures, and my grandmother hated them. I was always scowling._ The living room appeared to be where Ted had spent most of his days. There were many DVDs stacked on top of one another, causing Mario to remember that Ted had quoted several movies when he had been in the hospital. _I bet the future residents would kill me if I ever did that when I’m his age,_ Mario thought as he sighed and sat down on the nice plushy couch. _Not that anyone really cares, but this looks like it’s a nice place to sleep._ His dark eyes started to blink as the exhaustion of the day wore him down. _What was I supposed to be doing here again?_

_Mew._ Mario squinted and could see a cat standing in the living room. It was mostly black with several white patches across the chest and back. The cat meowed again, showing its young white teeth, and the resident could see the color and the I.D. tag around the neck.

                “Okay, okay.” Mario raised his hand in mock defeat. “I’ll feed you.” As soon as Mario stood, the cat almost jumped as he ran to the other side of the room. _“Someone’s got to feed my cat.”_ Mario almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Here he was, in a dead patient’s house, feeding his cat. _Angus will certainly laugh at my stupidity._ He managed to find the cat food – meticulously stored inside a gigantic can with a water bowl. As Mario watched the cat eat, he thought about the story he had told Ted. He had never told anyone that story before. Not even Angus, with his stupid deposition of kindness. No one knew very much about him, and that was the way Mario had wanted it to go. He had no reason to be attached to anyone. However, he hadn’t expected he would see himself so clearly in Ted Banks. Mario had been particularly insulted when Angus had thought…well, that he was gay. Ted, the damn bastard, thought that he and Angus were a _thing_. _I can’t find myself a friend, how can I find myself a girlfriend?_ He thought further. Angus apparently thought that he didn’t want him to pick Mario up because he was a playboy – Mario had wanted to howl with laughter at the sound of that, but had allowed the judgement to pass. It would cement, and then…it would simply be part of who he was.

                “What’s your name, anyway?” Mario muttered under his breath as the cat started to drink out of the water dish. He could see the tag flash from the water. _Ami._

_Wait,_ Mario thought. _Not something dumbass like everyone names their cats?_ He inwardly thought it was a weird name until he remembered Angus asked him what language he had learned in high school. Mario had forgotten that…privileged students could actually choose to take another language, and not take it as another way to get high as the teachers didn’t give a shit. Angus had taken French, and proudly still managed to speak to shitty language. _Show off._

                “How pathetic can he be?” Mario asked as the cat started to meow again. It seemed to be begging him for attention. “Friend? Really?”

               _Well, at least he didn’t name the cat children._ Mario inwardly shuddered. He spied the massive DVD collection and browsed the titles. He saw a title that was worn and damaged. _The Prince of Darkness, I think it was. Ted kept on quoting it._ Mario bit his lip, wondering if he should watch a movie belonging to a dead man that loved it so much. _I might as well see what the fuss was about,_ the resident thought as he turned on the television and inserted the DVD. _It might save me from another moment from having Angus lecture me on “friends.”_

                Mario sat down on the plush couch and waited for the DVD to start. _Ami…what a pathetic name for a lonely guy. At least I_ wouldn’t _do that._ _I can imagine the poor neighbors cringing at the sound of the name Enfants. That’s an even sadder name than –_

“What are you doing?” Mario glared at the cat, who was now on his chest and blinked his green eyes up at him. “Hey, stop!” Mario hissed as the cat started to kneaded his claws into his scrubs. “Not only will I have your fur everywhere, but now –” The cat did not pay attention to his complaints. In fact, the cat started to squint his eyes and moved closer to Mario’s chest, purring. “I swear to name you Enfants when this is over,” Mario vowed.

                And so the resident Mario Savetti watched the _Prince of Darkness_ with a cat purring on his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> I half wanted Mario to call Angus and ask to see the movie with him, but I think that would be too soon in Mario's character development.


End file.
